Knitting machine



9 'M. c. MILLER I 1,871,190

KNI'ITING MACHINE Filed April 5, 1921 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Aug. 9, 1952 1 Application filed April 5, 1921. Serial No. 458,639.

The invention relates to knitting machines sectional. views on lines 2 to 6 respectively of and more particularly to independent spring Fig. 1, and Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line needle machines. 7,'Fig. 1 showing the positions of the needle Certain features of the invention relate to operating jacks and the needle pressing jack 5 mechanism for actuating the needles which when the corresponding needle is in the mas is well adapted for use in a machine proactive series.

vided with sinkers for measuring the yarn As shown in the drawings the spring fed to the needles and with web holders for needles 2 are mounted in grooves formed in casting 0E and holding the knit fabric. This a needle cylinder 4 which may be rotated mechanism comprises a pair of jacks for opand oscillated by v any suitable mechanism cc erating each needle which are independentsuch as is usually employed-for rotating and ly movable with relation to the needle so that oscillating the needle cylinder of a seamless they may be advanced'and retracted by the hosiery machine. The upper end of the r knitting cams to form knitting waves in the needle cylinder carries the dial 6 in which the needles or may be moved in opposite direcradially movable web holders 8 and radially tions with .relation to the needles to withmovable sinkers 10 are mounted. A dial draw them from active relation to the knitting plate 12 separates the sinkers and web holdcams and thus render the corresponding ers and-a wire it is sprung into a groove needle or needles inactive. When embodied in the inner edge of the plate to form a in a machine for knitting seamless hosiery presser ring for pressing the beards of the it this mechanism provides means for permitneedles. The sinkers and web holders are adting the needles which are inactive during vanced and retracted by cams carried by the knitting of the heel and toe to be so pocam ringslli and 19 n sitioned that they are below the level of the The means for pressing the beards of the sinkers and are also unafi'ected by the stitch needles against the presser ring consists of a, cams. This avoids the wear on the yarn series of needle pressing jacks 20 mounted to incident to the repeated kinking of the yarn slide in the needle grooves back of the needles about the inactive needles which would ocand provided at their lower ends with butts cur if the needles were raised to render them 22 projecting outwardly into the path of cams in active, and also avoids the strain due to the 2d and 26. The upper ends of the jacks are at repeated drawing. of the loops below the arranged to engage cam surfaces 28 formed knock-over level which would occur if the at the upper ends of the needle grooves and needles rendered inactive during the knitting so shaped that as a jack is advanced by the of the heel or toe were affected by one or cam 24 or cam 26 its upper end is sprung or both of the stitch cams. bent forward and acts to press the needle outas Another feature of the invention relates to ward and thus force its beard against the the means for pressing the beards of the presser ring'l l as indicated in Fig. needles. This means comprises a beard press- Each of the needle pressing jacks is formed er ring at the front of the needles and a at its upper end of comparatively thin stock needle pressing jack arranged in each needle so that the jack may be readily bent or sprung ti groove back of the corresponding needle and when it is advanced into contact with the forced forward to press the needle against cammed surface 28 to cause the thickened up the presser ring by movement of the jack per end of the jack to engage with and force along the groove. j the upper end of the needle outwardly.

A preferred form of the invention applied abutment formed on the thin portion of the l to a circular machine for knitting seamless presser jack to engage and depress the needle hosiery is illustrated in the accompanying advancing jack as hereinafter described, predrawings in which Fig. 1 is a view showing vides an additional surface for supporting somewhat diagrammatically the interior of the needle in its slot, at the same time leavthe cam supporting cylinder, Figs. 2 to 6 are ingan undercut-portion ad acent the upper end of the jack to facilitate the bending or springing of the upper end of the jack.

Each needle is actuated and controlled through a pair of jacks mounted in the needle grooves so that both jacks may move with the needle in advancing or retracting it when forming a knitting wave in the needles or may move independently with relation to the needle to leave it inits normal inactive position or in any position into which it may have been moved by the combined movement of: the jacks. As shown the needle advancing jack 30 is mounted directly infront of the needle presser jack and its upper end is-arranged to underlie and engage the lower end of the needle. The upper end of the jack has a rearward projection playing within a reces's in the front side of the needle presser-jack and arranged to engage the shoulder 32 at:

the lower end of the recess to retract the presser jack during the latter part of the downward or retracting movement of the needle, and to engage the shoulder at the up per 'end of the recess to return the presser jack from the inactive to the active series on the heel and toe. The needle retracting jack 34 is mounted in the groove outside the needle advancing jack and is provided at its upper end with a hook or rearward projection 36 over-lying a butt 38 which projects-forward from the lower end of the needle. The jacks are each provided with outwardly projecting butts adapted to be engaged by cams carried on the inner surface of the cam support or cylinder 40, the jacks corresponding to the Y instep needles being provided with long butts the needles, and the needle advancing side cams 50 and 52 for advancing the needles to their normal level. The normal level. of the, needles is above the knock-over level to which the needles are drawn by the stitch cams and is slightly'below the level of the sinkers as indicated in Fig. 6.

During rotary knitting the stitch cam 48 and the needle presser cam 26 are raised out of the path of the needle retracting jacks and needle pressing jacks respectively, as'indicated in Fig. 1. During reciprocatory knitting the stitch, cams 46 and 48 are alternately raised and lowered to act upon the needle re-' tracting jacks and the cams 24 and 26 are raised and lowered with them to alternately act upon the needle pressing jacks. During rotary knitting the cams 42 engage the butts of the needle advancing jacks and raise the needles to take the yarn, the needle retracting jacks moving with the needles, as indicated in 1 Fig. 2. Yarn is fed to the sinker's 10 through the yarn guide 54 as indicated in this figure and is kinked about the needles by the ad-- vance of the sinkers. The butts of the needle retracting jacks 34 then engage the leading position indicated in Fig. 4-and act'to force the needles forward and press the beards against the presser ring 14. The needles are then further retracted by the stitch cam 46 and at about the same-time the sinkers are also retracted so that new loops of yarn are drawn down through the loops already on the needles to the knock-over point indicated in Fig. 5 After the heard of the needle has entered the loop on'the needleand during the latter part of the retracting movement of the needle the rearward projection on'the needle advancing jack engages the shoulder 32 on the needle pressingjack and retracts the latter jack into its normal position as indicated in Fig. 5. After the butt of a needle retracting jack passes the lower point of the stitch cam the butt of the corresponding needle advancing jack engages the needle advancing jack cam 50 so that the jacks and needle are advanced to normal position, thus relieving the strain on the loops while the upper end of the needle remains below the plane of the sinkers.

The instep needles which are inactive during the knitting of the heel and toe are rendered inactive by moving the jacks out of active relation to the knitting cams so that the needles are unafi'ected by the knitting .cams and are also left at their normal level with their hook ends below the plane of the sinkers, thus avoiding the repeated retraction of the needles to the knock-ovenl'evel and the repeated kinking of the yarn about the inactive needles which would otherwise occur. The needles which are rendered successively inactive during the narrowing and successively active during the widening are also rendered inactive by moving the jacks out of active relation to the knitting cams and are rendered active by returning the jacks to active relation to the knitting cams so that these needles also, while in the inactive series, are unaffected by the knitting cams and also remain at their normal level below the plane of the sinkers. The jacks are preferably thus moved by a pair of switch cams acting on the .long butt jacks and pairs ofnarrowing and widening-pickers acting on the short butt jacks. To permit the jacks to be conveniently operated by these devices the butts of each pair of jacks are spaced to receive the stitch cams and pickers between them as indicated in the drawings. After passing the stitch and side cam the butts of the jacks pass on opposite sides of a rib or ledge 56 projecting from the inner side of the cam carrier. The switch cams 58 are-arranged on opposite sides of the rib and are mounted to swing into the positionindicated in full lines in Fig. 1 and to engag the butts of the long butt jacks and move each pair of jacks in opposite directions, the needle advancing jacks being depressed so that they pass below the cam plate 60 on which the needle advancing and side cams are formed and the needle retracting jacks being raised so that they pass over the stitch cam 48 which is in raised position. The movement of the advancing jacks down into inactive position also carries the corresponding needle pressing jacks down into inactive position so that their butts 22 pass below both cams 24 and 26 as indicated by the lower broken lines in'Fig. 1. The pressing jacks are returned to active position when the corresponding needle advancing jack rides up the needle advancing cam after being moved into the active series, the upper end of the needle advancing jack at this time engaging the upper end of the recess in the presser jack and raising the jack to hringthe butt 22 into cooperative relation with the cam 24 or 26. When the long butt jacks are moved to inactive levels two pairs of narrowing pickers 62 come into action and act on the pairs of short butt jacks to move one pair of jacks to the inactive levels during each reciprocation of the needle cylinder and this leave the corresponding needles in the idle series. At-the end of the narrowing a pair of double widening pickers 64 come into action and during each reciprocation of the needle cylinder return two pairs of jacks to the active series, thus returning needles to the active series until the widening is completed. The switch cams are then moved into position as shown in dotted lines to return all the remaining long butt jacks to the active series. The movement of the needle advancing jacks from the active to the idle series by pickers 62 also moves the corresponding needle pressing jacks into inactive series as indicated diagrammatically at the left of Fig. 1.

While it is preferred to employ the specific construction and arrangement shown and described in embodying the invention in a spring needle machine adapted for the pro-- duction of seamless hosiery it should be understood that this construction and arrangement is not essential to the broader features of the invention and may be varied or modified as found desirable or best suited to the construction and mode of operation of the machine in which any feature of the invention is to be embodied.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knitting machine, a needle actuating means comprising a needle advancing jack and a needle retracting jack, each movable with and independently of the needle.

2. In a knitting machine, needle advancing .cams for moving the jacks to advance and retract the needles, and means for removing the jacks from active relation to the knitting cams in rendering the corresponding needle idle. I 4. In a knitting machine the combination with the needles and sinkers for kinking the yarnabout the needles, of knitting cams arranged to form a knitting wave in the needles and return them to a level intermediate the level at which the yarn is fed to the needles by the sinkers and the knock-over level, means for rendering the instep needles idle and free from the action of the stitch camswhile retaining themat the intermediate level, and means for freeing individual needles from the action of the stitch cams'and adding them to the idle series. 1

5. In a knitting machine the combination with a. circular series of needles and sinkers for kinking the yarn about the needles, of means for rendering needles inactive and freeing them from the action of the stitch yarn about the needles, of means for freeing the instep needles from the action of the stitch cams in rendering them inactive and for retaining such needles at a level below the level at which the yarn is fed to the needles by the sinkers and above the knockover level, and means for freeing from the action of the stitch cam needles added to the inactive series in narrowing and widening.

'7. 'In a knitting machine the combination with the needles, of a pair of independently movable jacks for advancing and retracting each needle, needle advancing cams for operating'the advancing jacks, stitch cams'for operating the retracting jacks, and means for separating pairs of jacks to render the corresponding needles inactive.

8. In a knitting machine the combination with the needles, of a pair of independently movable jacks for advancing and retracting each needle, means for operating the jacks to form a knitting wave in the needles, and means for separating pairs of jacks to render the corresponding needles inactive.

' 9. In a knitting machine the combination---- with the needles, of a pair of independently .movable jacks for advancing and retracting each needle, means for operating the jacks to form a knitting wave in the needles, and

means for separating pairs oijacks to render the corresponding needles inactive, and means for separating individualpairs of jacks at the ends of the active series of needles to transfer the corresponding needles to the inactive series. I

10. In a knitting machine the combination with theneedles, of a pair of independently movable jacks for advancing and retracting each needle, means for operating the jacks to form a knitting wave in the-needles, means for separating a series of jacks to render the corresponding series of needles inactive, and

means for selectively separating and for subsequently returning pairs of jacks to transfer needles from the'aotive to the inactive and from the inactive to the active series.

11. In a knitting machine thecombination with the needles, of pairs of independently movable long and short butt j acks, one pair for each needle, knitting cams for acting on the butts, a pair of switch cams for separating pairs of'long butt jacks to render them inac time, pairs of pickers for separating pairs of active jacks, and pairs of pickers for returning idle pairs of jacks to the active series.

12. In a knitting machine the-combination with spring needles, of a beard presser in front of the needles, a needle presser back of each needle, said presser comprisin a member underlying the needle provi ed with raised portions on the shank and at its upper end on which the needle rides, and arranged to leave an undercut portion of the jack adjacent its upper end to facilitate its flexing at that point, means for advancing and retracting the needle pressers longitudinally of the needles, and means for bending their upper ends only forward when advanced to press the corresponding needle against the beard presser.

. 13. In a knitting machine the combination with spring needles, of a beard-presser in front of the needles, needle pressing jacks back of the *needles, said presser comprising a member underlying the needle provided with raised portions on the shank and at its upper end on which the needle rides, and arranged to leave an undercut portion of the jack adjacent its upper end to facilitate its flexing at that point, a cam for advancing the jacks longitudinally of the needles and cams for bending the upper end only of the jacks "forward. 65 v 14. In a knitting machine the combination with a needle support provided withneedle grooves and spring needles in the grooves, of a beard presser in front of the needles, needle pressing jacks mounted to reciprocate in the.

grooves back of the needles, said presser comprising a member underlying the needle provided with raised'portions on the shank and and arranged to leave an undercut portion of the jack adjacent its upper end to fac ilitate its flexing at thatv point, and means for of the jacks forgrooves, spring needles in the grooves and sinkers for kinking the yarn about the needles, of needle pressing jacks mounted in the grooves back of the needles, actuating means for the jacks, and means for rendering a needle inactive at a level below the .level at which the yarn is'fed to the needlesby the sinkers and for simultaneously removing its pressing jack from effective relation to its actuating means.

16'. In a; knitting machine the combination with a needle cylinder and spring needles mounted in grooves in the cylinder, of knitting cams for forming a knitting wave in the needles, needle pressing jacks mounted in the grooves back of the needles, a cam below the knitting cams for advancing the jacks, and means connecting the jacks and needles for causing the retracting movement of the needles to retract the jacks.

1.7. In a knitting machine the combination with'a' needle support provided with grooves and spring needles in the grooves, of needle pressing jacks mounted in the grooves back of the needles, means for advancing the jacks for causing the' retracting movement of the needles to retract the jacks.

18. In a knitting machinethe combination with spring needles and sinkers of knitting cams arranged to form a knitting wave in the needles and return them toa level intermediate the yarn-taking and knock-over level, a beard presser in front of the needles, a needle presser back 'of each needle, means for rendering the instep needles idle and free from the action of the stitch cams while retaining them at the intermediate level and for rendering the corresponding pressers inactive, and means for freeing individual.

needles from the action of the stitch cam and for rendering the corresponding pressers inactive and thus adding needles and pressers to the idle series.

19.- In a knitting machine the combination with spring needles and a beard presser in front of the needles, of needle pressing jacks back of the needles, needle advancing jacks connected to retract the needle pressing jacks during the final retracting movement of the needles, and means for advancing the needle pressing jacks to press the beards of the needles against the beard presser.

20. In a knitting machine the;combination with spring needles and a beard presser in front of the needles, of a pair of independat its upper'end on which the needle rides,

back of each needle, camsfor operating the jacks to form a knitting wave in the needles and to press the beards of the needles, means for separating a series {of needle operating jacks to render the corresponding series of needles and their presser jacks inactive, andmeans for selectively separating and for subsequently returning pairs of jacks to transfer needles and their pres ser jacks from the active to the inactive, and from the inactive tothe active series.

21. In a knitting machine the combination 7 with a circular series of spring needles, sinkers and web holders, of knitting cams arranged to form a knitting wave in the needles and return them to a level intermediate the level at which the yarn is fed to the needles by the sinkers and the knock-over level, means for rendering the instep needles idle and free from the action of the stitch cams while retaining them at the intermediate level, and means for freeing individual needles from the action of the stitch cams and adding them to the idle series.

22. In a knitting machine the combination with a circular series of spring needles, sinkers and web holders, of means for. rendering needles inactive and freeing them from the action of the stitch cams and for retaining the inactive needles at a level below the level at which the yarn is fed to the needles by the sinkers and above the knock-over level.

23. In a knitting machine the combination with a circular series of spring needles and sinkers, of means for freeing the instep needles from the action of thestitchcams in renderin them inactive and for retaining such nee les at a level below the level at which the yarn is fed to the needles by the sinkers and above the knock-over level, and means for freeing from the action of the stitch cams needles added to the inactive series in narrowing and widening.

.24. In a lmitting machine the combination with a needle cylinder and spring needles mounted in the grooves in the cylinder, of knitting cams for forming a knitting wave in' the needles, needle pressing jacks mounted in the grooves back of the needles, needle jacks for advancing and retracting the needles actuated by the knitting cams, a cam below the knitting cams for advancing the jacks, and means rendered operative by movement of the needle jacks in retracting the needles to retract the needle pressing jacks.

25. In a knitting machine the combination with a needle support provided with grooves and spring needles in the grooves, of needle pressing jacks mounted in the grooves back of the needles, means for advancing the jacks to press forward the corresponding needles, and needle jacks for retracting the needles and the needle pressing jacks.

26. In a knitting machine the combination with needles of a. needle support grooved to receive the needles, said grooves having a substantially straight bottom portion and provided at their upper ends with cam surfaces rising towards the surface of the support, needle pressing jacks in the grooves back of the needles provided at their -upper ends and on the shanks with raised portions on which the needles ride, said raised portions being arranged to leave a thin undercut portion of the jack adjacent its upper end to facilitate-its flexing at that point, and a cam for advancing the jacks in the grooves longitudinally of the needles to bend the upper ends of the jacks forwardly on the said cam surfaces to move the hook portions of the needles outwardly in their grooves.

27. A needle jack for use in a knitting machine, comprising a shank, an operating butt and a flexible head.

28. In a knitting machine, the combina tion of a series of needles, a needle cylinder slotted to receive the needles, and needle jacks underlying the needles arranged to dle outwardly.

' MAX 0. MILLER. 

